Jewish Friends of Mine

My first eye opener was Yehuda Shaul with his breaking the silence. I was so amazed by him.
I wrote about it on my facebook, wondering what the comments would be. That was before the Gaza. Turned out I was not the only one. Some of us did think beyond that old tired line "jews are our enemy".

And I wrote more and more about 'friendly jews'. I found more and more people, regardless their religion, were true friends of Palestine. More than us, muslim people.

So I was so glad to read this article, on Jakarta Post.

We should learn more about each other. And put aside some old dogma and prejudice. Cause deep down inside, we are all the same.

Little Things, Always the Little Things.

Mark Twain said "Remember the poor, it costs nothing".

Apa sih, definisi "poor"? Miskin?
Hidup dibawah 1 $? Di bawah 2 $?
Tidak punya rumah? Tidak punya pekerjaan?
Hopeless? Homeless?

Jangan salah.
Ada yang merasa 'miskin' itu karena tidak punya mobil mewah.
Ada yang merasa 'miskin' ketika ngga bisa beli blackberry terbaru.
Ada yang merasa miskin karena ngga beli baju bermerek di mal.
Ada yang merasa miskin karena ngga dapet keistimewaan dan kemudahan yang dimiliki para pejabat dan orang 'hebat'.

Miskin karena selalu merasa kekurangan.

Tapi lupakanlah miskin yang itu, balik ke miskin yang ada di berita akhir-akhir ini.

Seorang nenek dipenjara karena 'memungut' 3 biji buah kakao.
Seorang kakek dipukul dan diseret karena menentang penggusuran.
Seorang PSK dibiarkan tenggelam di kali ketika sedang dikejar-kejar.
Aku yakin kalo digoogle maka akan panjang sekali daftarnya...

Dan tulisan kali ini bukanlah ingin membahas dari sudut hukumnya bla bla bla, karena sudah mahfum sekali bahwa hukum itu bukanlah keadilan. Law is not justice. It never is.
Tapi ingin bertanya pada sendiri, have I remembered enough.
Lebih lagi, have I done enough.

Seorang sahabat berkata,
"Dee, lahir-belajar jalan ngomong-tk-sd-smp-sma-kuliah-kerja-nikah-punya anak-memastikan anak mengikuti hal2 tersebut-mati adalah, devil cycle. I dont know where's thing 'so-called' life on that cycle"

Aku bilang, dia harus mengalami semuanya dulu baru bisa tau.

Dan dijawab,
"No i dont have to. Just by thinking about what our country had become. Its a sad fact that there's actually only few people give it a damn, because they been trapped on their own tired old line. There's no time to think about others. Let alone the nation. Busy to save their own asses, and they dont even realize that's what's happened. Its a false joy"

There. My life is a false joy.
And we're just some kinda robot.
How nice.
Just perfect for this gloomy cloudy november days.

Tapi tentu saja, ini harusnya suatu kritik membangun.
I'm still searching the constructive part.

Kritik membangunnya mungkin adalah bagaimana kita bertanya pada diri sendiri, "Apa yang salah dari komunitas kita? masyarakat kita? negara kita? Is it the custom? The education system? What?"
Jika belum terjawab, masih ada pertanyaan selanjutnya yang menunggu, "Apa solusinya?"

Aku selalu berpikir, sesuatu dimulai dari hal terkecil. Dari diri sendiri. Satu demi satu.
Klise.
Tapi sesuatu itu klise mungkin karena itu memang benar.
And yea, I haven't done enough. I'm crawling.

So, when my simple so-called life, with my simple kinda family, seems not enough..well, I cannot blame my idealistic sarcastic friend. We can always agree to disagree, right?
Just don't expect me to stop believing that maybe we, stupid silly nerdy simple people, can actually make a difference. By doing little things.

2 simple things to remember and share with dynamic duo (again):
1. Simpen krincing kita
2. Pisahin dan kurangi sampah dengan ngubur sampah dapur.

Last but never least...listen to your children. Respect them. So they'll listen and respect others.
Do you realize that your children spend less than 20 years with us, then go on to spend another 60 years, 70 years, 80 or maybe even more on this planet. What goes on in our home with them today seems so small it hardly even matters in the grand scheme of things. Yet what we do in our home can affect society for many years to come.

Itu salah satu solusiku, mate, ketika kamu nanya apa nanti Damar Dimas sempet mikirin negaranya.

Bertanya pada Damar the jegrag and Dimas the jambul.
Ketika mereka pengen roti tawar instead of nasi buat makan siang, aku bukan bilang, "Harus makan nasi! Mamah udah capek-capek masak! Arrgghh! Grrrr! Aum!" and so on.
Tapi aku bertanya, "kenapa ngga mau makan nasi?" dan dijawab Damar, "nanti mah, abis makan roti."

Pertanyaan. Jawaban.
Pilihan. Konsekuensi.

Semoga dengan memberikan mereka pertanyaan dan pilihan, someday when they're older, mereka bisa menentukan pilihan yang terbaik bukan cuman untuk diri mereka sendiri tapi juga lingkungan di sekitar mereka. Semoga mereka, entah itu mengikuti 'that tired old line' atau sebaliknya menjadi biksu selibat yang mengabdikan diri untuk menyelamatkan dunia, menjadi manusia yang bermanfaat.

This stupid simple me is still learning, for God sake!


(www.art.com)

The Beating of A Single Heart

I felt quite aweful aweful this morning.
A perfect combination of fatigue, lack of sleep and lack of gratitude.
Then I watched this video.

From commondreams



The Beating of A Single Heart
by Jonathan Mann

You hear it everyday
sometimes in the subtlest ways
sometimes it's in your face
But nonetheless it's there
"Go back to where you came from"
"They're taking all our jobs"
"They shoul learn to speak English"
"They are lazy, foreign slobs"

It is fear
that can sonsume you
Fear
will make you close your eyes.
But it is love
that can bloom you
let you open up to the sun and realize

We're all the same
underneath our skin
same beating hearts
same blood within

And in the future
as we embrace
We'll feel the beating of a single heart
of the human race.

We're told it's not enough
to consume more than our weight in stuff
when things are getting rough
we oughta buy more

Make it! Pack it! Ship it!
Buy it! Use it! Toss it!

Afterall, isn't that what we're made for?
With no regard
for the impact
our tireless consumption has

from all the beef
to the big smoke stacks
We're messing up the only home we have

Put down your wallet
and go outside
March around
get wide eyed

Cause in the future
We'll take care of this place
And the beating of a single heart
of the human race.

We've heard it all before
there has always been war
From the chimpanzee's roar
and the rocks he hurled

But we must evolve
to find another way to solve
all the disagreements in this world
Well it won't be simple
Nothing ever is
But in that complexity is grace.

Cause in the future
bound by respect
We'll feel the beating heart of a human race.

Thanks Jonathan Mann! It really brightened up my day.

Buaya dan Komodo

Siapa lagi yang bisa dipercaya?
My poor country...

The latest update of criminalization of KPK, the Jakarta Pos

The police and those devil's advocates, those corruptors...I cannot hate those people more.

Negeri Para Bedebah
Ada satu negeri yang dihuni para bedebah
by Adhie Massardi

Lautnya pernah dibelah tongkat Musa
Nuh meninggalkan daratannya karena direndam bah
Dari langit burung-burung kondor menjatuhkan bebatuan menyala-nyala
Tahukah kamu ciri-ciri negara para bedebah?
Itulah negeri yang para pemimpinnya hidup mewah
Tapi rakyatnya makan dan mengais sampah
Atau menjadi kuli di negeri orang
Yang upahnya serapah dan bogem mentah
Di negeri para bedebah
Orang baik dan bersih dianggap salah
Dipenjarakan hanya karena sering ketemu wartawan
Menipu rakyat dengan pemilu menjadi lumrah
Karena hanya penguasa yang boleh marah
Sedangkan rakyatnya hanya bisa pasrah
Maka bila negerimu dikuasai para bedebah
Jangan tergesa-gesa mengadu kepada Allah
Karena Tuhan tak akan mengubah apa suatu kaum
Kecuali kaum itu sendiri mengubahnya
Maka bila melihat negeri dikuasai para bedebah
Usirlah mereka dengan revolusi
Bila tak mampu dengan revolusi, dengan demonstrasi
Bila tak mampu dengan demonstrasi, dengan diskusi
Tapi itulah selemah-lemahnya iman perjuangan.